Context
The United States' role in the world stands at a critical juncture—humanitarian and development needs are rising across the globe, democratic gains continue to erode, decades-long progress against poverty and disease are backsliding, and competitors that do not share American values are gaining influence.
Central to these challenges is one pressing question: Does America scale back its international engagement and allow others to fill the void, or should America invest in a future marked by collective security and respect for human dignity?
The answer is clear: for less than 1% of the federal budget, the United States' global development and humanitarian assistance can lift millions of people out of poverty, end extreme hunger, protect human rights, build resilience, and promote responsive democratic governance—all while advancing core American values and economic and security interests.
As the nation's leading policy advocate for development and humanitarian relief programs, representing over 160 U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that mobilize nearly $18 billion in programs around the world, InterAction is proud to present Choose to Invest.
Contents
Choose to Invest is a public resource that highlights essential accounts that support international development, global health, humanitarian response, resilience and adaptation, and democratic strengthening. It provides information and funding recommendations across dozens of accounts and activities primarily financed through the annual State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill. Choose to Invest also covers international food security programs funded by the Agriculture Appropriations Bill and international health and labor protections funded through the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill.
For each account and activity, a comprehensive funding history and a recommended baseline funding level for FY2025 are compiled based on the collective expertise of InterAction's coalition.
Confronted by substantial humanitarian and development crises in 2024, the call for American leadership is paramount. This leadership mandate is not just America investing in foreign assistance but also encouraging our allies to help us address the formidable challenges that loom ahead.
The stakes are high. If America hesitates to take the lead, others will readily fill the void, jeopardizing our values, economic prosperity, and security interests. Our track record demonstrates that strategic investments empower us to uplift communities from poverty, ensure food for families, and play a pivotal role in fostering international stability.
Importance of Humanitarian Supplemental Funding for FY2025
The Biden Administration's October 2023 supplemental request includes $10 billion for humanitarian and food assistance. This request includes life-saving funds for emergency food aid, clean water, and shelter for people impacted by crises in places like Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Bangladesh, Syria, and Haiti. In February 2023, the Senate passed a national security supplemental with bipartisan support that included $9.16 billion in humanitarian resources for global contexts. At the time of writing, the House has not passed a comprehensive supplemental and global humanitarian funds are still urgently needed to address these crises, which were not accounted for in the FY2024 President’s Budget Request and funding bill.
More broadly, supplemental funding is a tool that the U.S. government uses in times of critical global shocks and crises, and these resources play a pivotal role in supporting communities and stabilizing economies amidst war, pandemics, natural disasters, and extreme hunger and famine.
Big Picture
This urgent form of support is both needed and welcome—we will never be able to foresee every crisis. However, for longer-term predictability and development of effective programs, over-reliance on supplemental resources can provide challenges.
For implementing organizations to plan budgets and programming year over year, more reliable annual funding within the base appropriations bill is required.
Choose to Invest FY2025 recommends base humanitarian funding levels consistent with prior years. However, as the United States and the world confront a potential new normal of ongoing crises necessitating emergency responses, we invite a conversation on new tools or incorporating additional funds into annual appropriations offers a strategic advantage. This approach allows Congress and the Administration to engage in more predictable and consistent planning, ensuring more efficient and cost-effective responses to emergent global challenges.
Jump to CTI Accounts
Foreign assistance provided by the American taxpayer helps maintain global stability, drives economic growth at home and abroad, and combats poverty all over the world. What’s more, foreign aid bolsters America’s influence and ideals globally—all while delivering at home for the American people.
We Know it Works
From 1990 to 2019, the number of people living in extreme poverty globally fell from 1.9 billion to just over 700 million. In the now over two decades since its inception, PEPFAR has saved 25 million lives from HIV/AIDS. Maternal mortality rates were cut in half for much of the world between 2000 and 2020. History illustrates the impact of programs like the Marshall Plan and Peace Corps, creating allies and friends worldwide that advance our national interests.
Each of these accomplishments were driven by American investment and innovation globally, and American taxpayers are to thank for these remarkable milestones.
We know How to Do It
American humanitarian and development programs are vetted, accountable, and results driven. Implemented through international non-governmental organizations and in country partners, U.S. foreign assistance programs leverage investments and research from multilateral organizations and the private sector, partnering with local governments to promote self-reliance and sustainability.
The Current Challenge
The COVID-19 pandemic brought many global advancements to a standstill and, combined with war and famine, have made America’s efforts even more challenging.
Data shows that in 2024, the need for humanitarian assistance is near a record high, with 339 million people in need of assistance. 700 million people live in extreme poverty, suffering from war, hunger, disease, crumbling education systems, corrupt governance, and the knock-on effects of severe weather changes due to climate change. The world is also in the midst of democratic backsliding, rising great power competition, and challenges to the rules-based international order unseen in over 70 years.
It is not time for the United States to back down, and Americans agree.
Despite rampant political polarization, large majorities of Republicans, Democrats, and independents believe that U.S. global leadership and international engagement are vital. When questioned on a 10-point scale about whether the U.S. should assume a leadership role or allow others to lead in international affairs (higher equals more engagement), Americans, on average, indicated a preference for leadership with a score of 7.5.
America stands at a critical juncture. America’s competitors around the world sit at the ready, primed to bolster their own strategic positions while undermining the United States and the work we’ve done to make the world a safer, more prosperous place with less disease and poverty. Simultaneously, the world is grappling with escalating conflicts, resulting in devastating consequences. Increasing hunger, disease, migration, and water scarcity—compounded by severe and changing weather patterns—leave a trail of destruction and threaten to upend international stability.
American leadership is more critical than ever.
|
ACCOUNT |
FY2025 MINIMUM RECOMMENDATIONS ($ in thousands) |
|---|---|
|
State, Foreign Operations Bill |
|
|
Adaptation |
550,000 |
|
African Development Fund |
197,000 |
|
Asian Development Fund |
87,220 |
|
Basic Education |
985,000 |
|
Biodiversity |
450,000 |
|
Clean Technology Fund |
550,000 |
|
Clean/Renewable Energy |
425,000 |
|
Complex Crisis Fund |
60,000 |
|
Conflict and Stabilization Operations |
6,000 |
|
Contributions for Int'l Peacekeeping Activities |
1,962,235 |
|
Conventional Weapons Destruction |
271,703 |
|
Democracy Fund |
355,700 |
|
Democracy, Rights & Governance |
2,900,000 |
|
Development Assistance |
4,769,787 |
|
Diplomatic Programs |
9,752,263 |
|
Economic Support Fund |
4,301,301 |
|
Emergency Refugee & Migration Assistance |
100 |
|
Family Planning/Reproductive Health |
760,000 |
|
Global Agriculture and Food Security Program |
20,000 |
|
Global Environment Facility |
150,200 |
|
Global Food Security Strategy |
1,200,000 |
|
Global Fund AIDS, TB & Malaria |
1,650,000 |
|
Global Health Security |
1,000,000 |
|
Global Health Workforce |
20,000 |
|
Green Climate Fund |
1,000,000 |
|
HIV/AIDS (State) |
6,395,000 |
|
HIV/AIDS (USAID) |
330,000 |
|
International Development Association |
1,430,256 |
|
International Disaster Assistance |
4,850,000 |
|
International Fund for Agricultural Development |
54,000 |
|
International Organizations and Programs |
592,000 |
|
Malaria |
820,000 |
|
Maternal and Child Health |
920,000 |
|
Microfinance |
265,000 |
|
Migration and Refugee Assistance |
4,211,188 |
|
Millennium Challenge Corporation |
930,000 |
|
National Endowment for Democracy |
315,000 |
|
Neglected Tropical Diseases |
114,500 |
|
Nutrition |
172,500 |
|
USAID Operating Expenses |
1,796,762 |
|
Peacekeeping Operations |
460,759 |
|
Prevention and Stabilization Fund |
150,000 |
|
Reconciliation Programs |
30,000 |
|
Sec. 7059 Gender |
650,000 |
|
Sustainable Landscapes |
300,000 |
|
Transition Initiatives |
102,000 |
|
Tuberculosis |
469,000 |
|
U.S Development Finance Corp. |
1,023,000 |
|
U.S. Institute of Peace |
60,000 |
|
Vulnerable Children |
32,500 |
|
Water and Sanitation |
500,000 |
|
Agriculture Appropriations Bill |
|
|
Food for Peace, P.L. 480 Title II |
1,800,000 |
|
Local & Regional Procurement |
26,500 |
|
McGovern-Dole Interntl Food For Education |
265,000 |
|
Labor, Health, and Human Services Bill |
|
|
Bureau of International Labor Affairs - ILAB |
116,125 |
|
CDC Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases |
747,272 |
|
CDC Global Health |
760,843 |
InterAction mobilizes Members around several humanitarian and development policy working groups, strategically outlining key focal points for the organization's policy and advocacy initiatives. You can find more information on InterAction’s policy and humanitarian crisis response working groups working groups here.
Each of the outlined sectors not only provides an overview of the current challenges, highlights the impact of U.S. programs, spotlights accounts dedicated to the respective areas of focus, and provides interconnections to other sectors. While each of the InterAction areas of focus are distinct areas of work, effective collaboration across sector programs and policies is imperative in advancing effective development practices, as it improves overall outcomes.
Children and Youth
In recent years multiple crises have reversed progress on global development benchmarks, with a disproportionate impact on children and youth, whose futures are reliant on today’s progress but are often an afterthought in funding and policy decisions. This is especially concerning given that children and youth comprise over half the world’s population and a majority in many countries, particularly in the Global South.
Investments in children and youth advance their health, wellbeing, and economic security, while also providing massive overall economic benefits. Every dollar invested in early childhood and basic education yields up to $15 generated in economic growth; every dollar invested in nutrition results in up to $35 in economic returns; and every dollar that supports youth-led peacebuilding programs yields a $5 to $10 return on investment.
Investing in children and youth is both a moral imperative and an investment in the future. Advancing the lives of young people builds a foundation for healthier, more stable, and more prosperous societies.
Impact of U.S. Programs
- USAID promoted the protection, support, and safety of children and adolescents in FY2021 by providing over 24 million children with family tracing and reunification or other development and well-being services.
- In FY2022, USAID education programs reached more than 28 million children and youth across the pre-primary through higher education levels.
How the U.S. Invests in Children and Youth
U.S. government investments in policies and programs that impact children and youth are funded through both sector-specific accounts and intersecting development accounts (like democracy, health, and food security) that support young people at every stage of their lives.
Connections Across Sectors
Climate
Food Security and Agriculture
Gender
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)
Climate Adaptation
Shifting weather patterns, rising sea levels, extensive flooding, and more extreme weather events are all clear and devastating evidence of a rapidly changing climate that threatens our ability to ensure global food security, eradicate poverty, and achieve sustainable development.
Over the last 20 years, the negative impacts from climate change have caused the most at-risk economies to lose more than half of their economic growth potential, and by 2030, the impacts from climate change could pull over 130 million people back into extreme poverty. Additionally, up to 216 million people could be forced to migrate by 2050 due to climate-induced factors. U.S. support for climate mitigation and adaptation investments are critical to ensuring the world will have adequate food, access to safe water, sustainable economic growth, and good governance.
Impact of U.S. Programs
- USAID has provided over $650 million in climate adaptation programs over the last five years. Additionally, USAID has helped increase the capacity of over 12,000 local institutions to better assess and proactively address climate risks.
- In the past year, the voluntary corporate actions of 21 companies and partners in the private sector have mobilized more than $610 million in support of the objectives of PREPARE and supported more than 9.3 million people in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.
- U.S. investments have resulted in 165.4 million people gaining access to electricity in Africa, over 45,000 new jobs, and leveraged over $400 million of additional financing into the African energy sector.
How the U.S. Invests in Climate Change and the Environment
U.S. investments help limit global warming, promote resilience to environmental shocks, and develop foreign markets for American goods, contributing to U.S. economic objectives. Additionally, every dollar invested in adaptation and resilience saves three dollars in humanitarian assistance when crisis strikes.
- Adaptation
- Biodiversity, Renewable Energy and Sustainable Landscapes
- Clean Technology Fund
- Global Environment Facility
- Green Climate Fund
Connections Across Sectors
Food Security and Agriculture
- Impact of climate change on food systems, diet, nutrition, and health
- Climate adaptation in Bangladesh
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)
Children and Youth
- Climate anxiety in young people
- The climate crisis, child rights, and the children's climate risk index
Gender
Democracy, Rights, and Governance
In every region of the world, democracy is under attack by authoritarian leaders who demand unchecked power. For many citizens, freedom of expression has been stifled, making organizing for democracy even more difficult. However, democracy is resilient.
U.S. investments in democracy, rights, and governance (DRG) programs expand space for civil societies and independent media; strengthen political and government institutions; promote transparency and accountability; strengthen the rule of law; foster equitable economic growth; protect human and labor rights; and support credible elections.
Impact of U.S. Programs
- In every region in which the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) works, approximately $294 million in grants have supported partners in their fight for democracy. In FY2023, NED awarded $283 million (83% of its operating budget) in grants to support 1,990 projects in 100 countries, including Iran, Belarus, North Korea, Burma, Cuba, Egypt, Venezuela, Russia, and China.
- As a way to make elections more inclusive and accessible, the International Foundation of Electoral Systems (IFES), with resources from USAID, supported 100 accessible polling locations piloted by the Election Commission of Nepal and trained approximately 392 officers on accessible polling, fitted ramps, and braille voter information.
- Since 2008, the Department of State’s Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Department (DRL) has invested over $320 million in global internet freedom programs that support digital safety and anti-censorship tools which helps millions of internet users overcome barriers to accessing the open internet and to safely connect to uncensored internet.
How the U.S. Invests in DRG
DRG programs are cost effective for America’s long-term strategic interests. A world full of democratic governments is safer, more prosperous, and more stable.
Connections Across Sectors
Climate
Gender
Children and Youth
Food Security, Nutrition, and Agriculture
Since 2022, the conflict in Ukraine has sent shockwaves through the global economy, leading to a surge in prices for essential commodities such as food, fuel, and agricultural inputs. This impactful situation has particularly affected low-income countries that heavily rely on food imports. However, it's crucial to recognize that threats to food systems were looming even prior to the invasion.
The stark, rapid reversal in progress—largely fueled by conflict, economic shocks, and climate change—has left over 258 million people in immediate danger from hunger today. These interrelated and mutually reinforcing drivers, which are expected to grow more pronounced in the years to come, have tipped an already fragile agrifood system to the breaking point.
Effective responses to food insecurity and malnutrition must address immediate needs and tackle long term root causes. In fact, investments in the agriculture sector are up to four times more effective than investments in any other sector to spur economic growth and reduce poverty in low-income countries. Studies show for every one dollar invested in resilience efforts, three dollars is reduced in humanitarian assistance down the line. Strategic investments in food security, agricultural research and development, and nutrition are proven ways to build resilience and reduce vulnerability.
Impact of U.S. Programs
- Feed the Future supports long-term investments that improve agriculture and reduce hunger; 23.4 million more people now live above the poverty line than before the program began.
- Feed the Future partnerships leveraged a total of $698 million in private sector financing in FY2022 to support food security programming—a 46% increase from the previous year.
- In FY2022, more than $2.6 billion of in-kind food assistance from USAID supported the procurement of nearly 1.8 million metric tons of U.S.-grown food, serving more than 53 million people with emergency food assistance in 21 countries. These resources were utilized in Food for Peace programs.
- Since 2010, the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program has pooled more than $2.1 billion in donor funds for demand-driven projects, enabling the rapid mobilization of resources during emergencies while also strengthening resilience along the agriculture supply chain in 50 low-income countries.
How the U.S. Invests in Food Security and Nutrition
Global food security and nutrition programs provide healthy safety nets for the most food-insecure populations, strengthen food systems, and equip people with the knowledge and tools to feed themselves.
- International Disaster Assistance
- Food for Peace Title II
- Global Food Security Strategy (Feed the Future)
- Global Nutrition
- McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program and USDA Local Regional Procurement
- International Fund for Agricultural Development
- Global Agriculture and Food Security Program
Connections Across Sectors
Climate
Gender
Children and Youth
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)
Humanitarian Assistance
In 2024, nearly 300 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection due to a combination of factors—climate change, disasters, economic downturns, conflicts, and other protracted crises. As a result, more than one in 73 people are forcibly displaced worldwide, a ratio that has almost doubled in the past 10 years.
Responding to these crises is also becoming increasingly difficult because of shrinking humanitarian and civic space worldwide. Added layers of complexity include restrictions on aid delivery, such as bureaucratic and administrative impediments, multilateral and domestic counterterrorism measures, sanctions, and related financial access impediments, such as bank de-risking.
Impact of U.S. Programs
- In FY2023, USAID responded to 76 crises in 64 countries, providing more than $9.8 billion to help people affected by disasters and conflict, deliver emergency food assistance to refugees, and give communities tools to build resilience against future crises.
- In FY2022, USAID reached more than 167 million people in 57 countries with over $6.7 billion in food assistance and related activities.
- The State Department’s Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration provided more than $900 million in assistance in FY2021, helping those fleeing persecution and conflict, saving lives, preventing malnutrition and starvation, and providing health care to refugees throughout Africa.
How the U.S. Invests in Humanitarian Aid
The United States is the single largest humanitarian donor in the world, funding programs through four main accounts.
- Migration and Refugee Assistance
- International Disaster Assistance (IDA)
- Food for Peace Title II
- Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance (ERMA)
Connections Across Sectors
Climate
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)
Children and Youth
Gender
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
As early as 2025, half of the world’s population will live in water-stressed areas. Already, two billion people live without access to safe drinking water, 2.3 billion cannot wash their hands inside their home, over 480 million children lack access to handwashing facilities in their schools, and only 32% of healthcare facilities in the least developed countries have basic hygiene service.
Although significant progress has been made in recent years, more resilient and sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) solutions are needed to support ongoing development programs and reach high-risk communities, leading to healthier populations worldwide. In fact, investing in water resource management is one of the best ways to address climate change and improve resilience, with nearly a 5:1 benefit-cost ratio.
Access to safe WASH is essential for global health, economic development, gender equality, food security and nutrition, climate resilience, and conflict prevention. It provides the first line of defense in slowing the spread of disease and improving maternal and child health. Investing in WASH is crucial to making development efforts more effective and sustainable over the long term.
Impact of U.S. Programs
- Since 2008 USAID programs have helped 70 million people gain access to sustainable drinking water services and 54.8 million people gain access to sanitation services.
- In 2023 alone, U.S. government assistance helped 5.2 million people gain access to drinking water services and 4 million people gain access to sanitation services.
- USAID support has led to $590 million in new funding mobilized for the water and sanitation sectors since 2018.
- In 2022, funding helped reach approximately 155,000 school children with clean water, about 100,000 with decent toilets, and 416,000 with hygiene resources.
How the U.S. Invests in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
U.S. government investments in WASH programs reduce water-related disease, decrease food insecurity, and reduce the likelihood of transboundary conflict—saving and improving the lives of millions.
- USAID’s Water and Sanitation program
- CDC’s Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene program
- MCC’s Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation program
Connections Across Sectors
Children and Youth
Climate
Food and Agriculture
Gender
Account Pages
Democracy
Why and how does the U.S. Invest in Democracy?
Last year marked 17 consecutive years of democratic decline around the world. Authoritarians continue to undermine liberal democracies and promote political models that serve their own interests. The rise of authoritarianism brings not only conflict and instability but also threatens to fracture the global order. It is imperative that America counters authoritarianism and that democracy continues to be a paramount focus of U.S. foreign policy.
Democracy assistance is a cost-effective foreign policy tool. It promotes economic growth and limits corruption, thus providing a stable foundation for other types of foreign assistance to succeed. Democracy, human rights, and governance (DRG) programs increase the likelihood that countries will become self-sufficient, no longer depend on foreign assistance, and achieve sustainable peace.
Through programs that strengthen rule of law, government accountability, independent media, and inclusive political and civic engagement, DRG programs help stabilize emerging and fragile democracies, build institutional resilience, and counter escalating threats to human rights defenders.
Finally, U.S. democracy assistance directly counters illiberal influences by strengthening transparency and democratic governance and equipping civil society with the tools that they need to advocate for freedom and democracy.
The accounts highlighted in this section fund programs that support free and fair elections, protect human rights activists, prevent corruption, and increase political and civic participation and play an indispensable role in advancing the United States foreign policy agenda.
DEMOCRACY FUND, DRG, NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY
Foreign Assistance Agencies & Operating Accounts
Why and how does the U.S. Invest in Foreign Assistance?
Several government agencies play critical roles in U.S. foreign assistance, reflecting the multifaceted approach of America’s humanitarian and development programs. Guided by the strategic direction of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State, each agency—from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Department of Defense to the Department of Agriculture—contributes targeted expertise to ensure U.S. foreign assistance is effective and efficient.
USAID is the lead agency implementing U.S. assistance, maintaining more than 60 country and regional missions that manage a range of projects intended to meet specific development objectives. Most USAID projects are implemented by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), for-profit contractors, universities, international organizations, and foreign governments. Contracting and agreement officers at USAID, as well as other USAID staff, ensure projects have proper oversight.
USAID’s global operations are essential to defending U.S. national security, asserting U.S. leadership and foreign policy influence, and advancing stability, security, and prosperity worldwide. Strong operating funding enables USAID to remain focused on advancing the most critical and effective foreign assistance programs and ensuring strong stewardship and accountability of taxpayer dollars.
In addition to USAID, Congress has created other agencies over the years to help pursue U.S. foreign policy objectives. These include the Millenium Challenge Corporation, which provides grants to countries with policies that encourage economic growth and the International Development Finance Corporation, the U.S. government's development finance institution, providing secure private investment opportunities for emerging markets. The accounts highlighted in this section represent the primary agencies that govern U.S. foreign assistance policy and implement programs around the world.
OPERATING EXPENSES, U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Includes:
- Diplomatic Programs
- USAID Operating Expenses
- Bureau of International Labor Affairs
- Development Finance Corporation
- Millenium Challenge Corporation
- CDC Center for Global Health
- CDC National Center for Emerging & Zoonotic Diseases
- Conflict & Stabilization Accounts
Global Health
Why and how does the U.S. invest in global health?
The global ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the critical significance of healthcare systems at the national and global levels that are prepared for novel health threats. The pandemic stretched the world’s health care system to the limit, roiled supply lines, identified inequities and upended economic markets, laying bare the necessity for improved global health security. As the we move forward, U.S. leadership is essential to improve the health, stability, and longevity of communities around the world.
As the largest global health donor, the United States can be proud of its many successful efforts to strengthen global health security, but continued investment is needed to thwart the next global crisis.
America’s investments in global health have saved tens of millions of lives, prevented countless infections, combatted life-threatening diseases, bolstered reproductive health services, and built-up local capacity across the world. Nevertheless, many countries today—including Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Israel, Palestine, and Yemen—are grappling with an unprecedented scale of emergencies in the health sector. Given the proven success of global health investments, and known chaos produced by global health crises, investments are imperative.
Congress appropriates global health funding through the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill, which funds the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s global health programs, as well as through the State and Foreign Operations bill, which funds USAID global health programs and multilateral initiatives like the Global Fund. The accounts highlighted in this section represent key areas of U.S. global health investment.
Humanitarian
Why and how does the U.S. invest in humanitarian aid?
United States humanitarian assistance provides lifesaving interventions for people impacted by conflicts, disasters, or other human-made crises. In addition to saving lives in the near term, humanitarian assistance helps communities get on a path toward long-term stability—all for less than one-percent of the overall federal budget.
Providing humanitarian assistance serves as an effective instrument in foreign policy. It is a longstanding point of pride for Americans; when disaster strikes, Americans answer the call. It constitutes a fundamental tool in a broader foreign assistance toolbox that reduces global poverty, promotes democratic values, expands foreign markets for U.S. goods, reduces the likelihood of future conflicts, and delivers life-saving aid. Humanitarian action is guided by a principled approach—neutrality, independence, and impartiality—to ensure humanitarian actors are neither perceived nor treated like a party to the conflict which ensures the best quality of safe access to affected populations and geographies.
The United States has a bipartisan legacy of global leadership in prioritizing humanitarian aid that strengthens global communities, upholds human rights, bolsters critical U.S. interests, and is an active demonstration of the goodwill of the American people. American assistance has consistently demonstrated its ability to enhance stability and build resilience against future crises, amounting to a worthwhile return on investment.
U.S. humanitarian aid is channeled through four accounts: International Disaster Assistance (IDA), Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA), Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance (ERMA), and Food for Peace (FFP). The accounts highlighted in this section represent key areas of U.S. humanitarian investment.
Long-Term Development Assistance
Why and how does the U.S. invest in long-term development?
Long-term development programming is core to achieving U.S. foreign policy objectives, from supporting more prosperous communities and enhancing resilience, to combating terrorism and building a more peaceful international order. But with almost 700 million people globally living on less than $2.15 per day, there is much to do.
Congress provides funds for long-term development assistance to help people in developing countries tackle these challenges. Funds primarily go to two accounts—Development Assistance (D.A.) and Economic Support Fund (ESF). Generally, much of D.A. support goes to Africa, while most ESF programming works in tandem with other countries, many of which are in South and Central Asia, Europe and Eurasia, and the Near East.
Development Assistance supports infrastructure projects that increase food availability, access to basic water and sanitation services, and household income through enhanced agriculture productivity and the sustainable use of natural resources. In turn, D.A. reduces the need for future foreign assistance while limiting the probability of conflict and insecurity.
The Economic Support Fund also supports critical U.S. priorities and commitments, such as bolstering the Indo-Pacific Strategy; addressing Western Hemisphere migration; reinforcing partnerships in Africa and the Middle East; and leading efforts to address shared global challenges, such as food insecurity and climate change. These funds help countries of strategic importance meet near- and long-term political, economic, development, and security needs.
The U.S. also invests in programs that focus on education, nutrition, economic development, and climate adaptation, helping provide basic necessities to those in developing countries that would not have access otherwise and helping increase their resiliency to future shocks. Together, these efforts are critical to building a safe, free, and prosperous future. The accounts highlighted in this section represent key areas of U.S. long term development investment.
Multilateral Development
Why and how does the U.S. invest in multilateral institutions?
The United States has played a major role in establishing the world’s current multilateral development system, which includes United Nations agencies, international financial institutions, and global funding partnerships. Because their budgets are pooled from many donors, multilateral institutions can scale up investment that amplify assistance many times the amount that the United States can provide alone.
U.S. leadership in these institutions, such as multilateral development banks (MDBs)—international financial institutions that encourage economic development in poorer nations—has helped shape the global development agenda, produced effective outcomes, and allowed America to have an outsized impact on how these institutions operate. Due in part to U.S. oversight, MDBs have increased the use of grants to ensure debt sustainability and prevent previous debt crises from recurring.
Investments in multilateral organizations are critical to continue to address global challenges—U.S. contributions are leveraged to deliver substantial development impacts. For example, the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) is able to lend four dollars to low-income countries for every one dollar that donors provide, and every dollar that the United States contributes to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (i.e. the Global Fund) brings two dollars from other donors. The accounts highlighted in this section represent key areas of U.S. multilateral investment.
Peacebuilding
Why and how does the U.S. invest in peace and security?
Violent conflicts have been escalating since 2019, costing lives, disrupting economic activity, and compounding crises of forced displacement, hunger, and climate vulnerability. In 2022, the global economic impact of violence was estimated at $17.5 trillion, or 12.9% of global GDP. Additionally, over 108 million people are forcibly displaced by conflict and persecution, more than double from a decade ago.
The U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of State, often in conjunction with the United Nations, play a critical role in reversing these trends. The U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, mandated by the Global Fragility Act of 2019, outlines the holistic, evidence-based approach to peacebuilding that America takes, including people-to-people reconciliation programs, stabilization assistance, and peacekeeping operations.
Instability and violence can undermine or eliminate gains made in other sectors—such as economic growth, democracy promotion, global health, and climate adaptation—while increasing humanitarian needs and making humanitarian access more difficult, thereby hamstringing the United States government’s larger foreign policy objectives. Conflict prevention and peacebuilding programs can preserve progress made in these sectors by improving social cohesion and community stability.
Targeted investments in conflict prevention are highly cost-effective. Addressing an emerging conflict before it becomes a crisis saves immense resources from a potential military intervention, keeping American troops safe and putting money back in the pockets of taxpayers. The accounts highlighted in this section represent key areas of U.S. peace and security investments.
Our Members
We work to mobilize our 160+ Member organizations, which bring in an estimated $18 billion of funding, to collectively advocate for policies and solutions that advance the lives of people in the most marginalized positions.
CONVENER. THOUGHT LEADER. UNITED VOICE.
Founded in 1984, InterAction is the largest U.S.-based alliance of international NGOs and partners. We mobilize our Members to think and act collectively to serve the world’s poor and vulnerable, with a shared belief that we can make the world a more peaceful, just, and prosperous place—together.
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